Fired Jail Chief Views Himself As Political Casualty

Ron Caswell Said The Error In Releasing A Rapist And His Handling Of It Shouldn't Have Ended His 11-year Career.

March 29, 1996|By Henry Pierson Curtis of The Sentinel Staff

KISSIMMEE — The former head of the Osceola County Jail considers himself an election-year scapegoat.

Ron Caswell said he was fired last week for a rapist's mistaken release even though he had reported the incident to Sheriff Charlie Croft's top administrator.

A probe of the covered-up release ended when investigators were faced with asking Chief Deputy Ken Baker to take a lie detector test, Caswell said Thursday.

''I said, 'Get the box. Let's go on the box,' '' Caswell said of his desire to clear up the dispute. ''If the chief's saying he didn't know about it and I'm saying he did know about it, I'm looking like I'm lying about the whole thing.''

But the test wasn't conducted, he said.

''(The lead investigator) said, 'What you have to understand is you're part of the administration and,' he said, 'it would be like asking the sheriff to go on the box, the polygraph,' '' Caswell said. ''He said, 'We don't want people thinking the administration doesn't trust each other,' so we're not going on the box.''

The test Caswell calls ''the box'' is a voice stress analyzer used in the sheriff's internal affairs investigations. Caswell said an independent investigation might have resolved the dispute.

Sheriff Charlie Croft fired Caswell last Friday, saying Caswell tried to cover up the jail's mistake. Caswell tried to apprehend the inmate himself and kept the mistake quiet for 16 hours.

The inmate, Steven Baker, was released hours after his conviction on March 6 on two counts of sexual battery. The mistake was not discovered until March 8. The victim and the public were not warned until March 12, when a reporter began asking questions about the mistake.

On Thursday, Croft said he had seen no reason for polygraph tests during the investigation.

''There was no question in my mind, as far as guilt. Caswell pretty well came clean with what he did. There was no need for it,'' the sheriff said. ''I saw conflicts in the statement, but that was after the fact. That had nothing to do with what really took place Friday night when the guy fled town.''

The chief deputy said he knew nothing of Caswell's claim. Asked whether he would submit to the test, Ken Baker said, ''I don't know if I would or not. I'd have to think about that. . . . I've been truthful, so why would I have to prove it to anybody?''

Steven Baker was picked up on the evening of March 12 at the U.S. border in Texas as he returned from Mexico. An alert for his arrest was not issued until earlier that day.

The questions of who knew what, and when, became an issue when Caswell told internal affairs investigators that he informed the chief deputy of the rapist's release on March 9. That was the morning after the jail discovered its mistake.

However, the chief deputy said he did not learn the inmate was a rapist until told March 12 by a reporter. Had he known, Ken Baker said, he would have begun a major search to find Steven Baker, who is no relation.

Maj. Al Harris, Caswell's boss and one of the agency's highest-ranking administrators, told investigators he thought Caswell informed Ken Baker about the rapist on March 9. Harris said he is sure he personally informed Ken Baker on March 11 after first notifying Croft.

Ken Baker previously said he didn't learn of the jail's error until March 11. He said he remembered being told two days earlier - on March 9 - when Harris reminded him of the date. But he was only told then that Steven Baker was wanted for violation of probation, he said.

Caswell said the quest for truth ended with the decision not to question Ken Baker further. It was Ken Baker's duty in the chain of command to notify Croft of serious incidents.

''I guess if you have No. 1, No. 2, No. 3 and No. 8, and if you've got a problem, are you going to get rid of your No. 2 man or your No. 8 man?'' Caswell said. ''I also realize in politics in an election year that you can be a political casualty.''

Caswell, who admits he mishandled the incident, said he continues to support Croft and thinks the jail staff is one of the best in Central Florida.

''The sheriff had a tough-enough decision the way it went down. I think it hurt the sheriff more than it hurt me, although I was hurt by it,'' Caswell said. ''Do I think my mistake was worth an 11-year career? No.''